The present invention is related to methods and systems for electronically retrieving specified items from a database. In particular, the present invention relates to techniques for searching and retrieving door hardware data maintained in a database. More particularly, the present invention relates to techniques for permitting users to graphically display retrieved door hardware data.
Locksmiths have traditionally relied upon printed materials in the form of catalogs to search and retrieve information about specific door hardware items, such as locks, strike plates and hinges. While reliance upon printed materials is useful in some instances, the locksmith usually finds it difficult to peruse hundreds of pages of intricately labeled cataloged items to find the desired door hardware component in as brief a time span as possible. In short, printed catalogs containing door hardware items, such as locks, doorknobs, and so forth, are inefficient, time consuming, and expensive to use in an age when customers require and are willing to pay for instantaneously obtained door hardware information, including graphical designs, and individual component and manufacturer information.
A problem faced by locksmiths and those involved in the door hardware industry is the sheer number of door hardware catalogs available. The catalogs differ in size and format. A unified system of searching cataloged door hardware information is simply not available. Thus, any attempts at cross-referencing door hardware assembly items, sub-assembly items, and individual components is a task dependent upon the skill of a locksmith or other door hardware industry employee in utilizing a complex and cumbersome system of printed indexes and catalogs.
These individuals are also faced with the costs associated with printing media from the printed catalogs themselves. Because each catalog differs according to manufacturer specification, the field of choices available to a locksmith or door hardware designer is limited. The ability to mix and match items from different manufacturers in order to provide unified door hardware items for a customer usage is presently limited.
Based on the foregoing, it can be appreciated that a need exists for a standard method and system for unifying and presenting manufacturer door hardware items. Such a method and system, if implemented, would be of great benefit to locksmiths and others working in the door hardware industry. Such a method and system would limit errors in door hardware component orders by permitting a locksmith or user to identify a component part by manufacturer, assembly, or sub-assembly data.
It is envisioned that such a method and system, if implemented via a graphical user interface (GUI), well known in the data-processing arts, would permit fast and efficient cross-referencing of sub-assembly, assembly, product number and other door hardware components regardless of manufacturer origin. The method and system described and presented herein rises to these challenges by solving the aforementioned problems faced by locksmiths and others employed in the door hardware industry.
It is therefore one object of the present invention to provide an improved database retrieval method and system for electronically retrieving specified items from a database.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a method and system for searching and retrieving door hardware data maintained in a database of door hardware items.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a method and system that permits users to graphically display retrieved door hardware data.
The above and other objects are achieved as is now described. A method and system for electronically retrieving door hardware items from a database operably coupled to a search mechanism within a data-processing system is disclosed. The search mechanism is initially configured to retrieve specified door hardware items from the database based on a set of user entered search criteria. Thereafter, specified door hardware items can be electronically retrieved from the database via the search mechanism, in response to user input. The door hardware items are then displayed in a graphical user interface, in response to retrieval of specified door hardware items from the database. Object fields are also displayed in the graphical user interface, such that each object field is associated with a particular subset of the database. The user is then graphically prompted to select a particular subset of the database by selecting a particular object field, thereby narrowing the scope of the database search with increasing granularity.